When I think of Valentine's Day and hearts and cupids and romance and chocolates, my mind instantly turns to thoughts of... Shinobi?

Maybe not, unless you've got a secret fictional crush on Joe Musashi or something, BUT one of the two sources of this great arrangement from newcomer Dj Mystix is titled 'My Lover', so there's some contextual relevance there, at least. The other source is from Lost Odyssey, and the way Mystix, aka Mansoor Nazar, combines the two themes is really what makes this mix special. Production is competent, downbeat electronica with some grittier, hip-hop/r&b aesthetics, and many of the sounds employed have a specific, nostalgic feel that almost reminds me of the way Tarantino used existing tunes for the Kill Bills; there's a depth & resonance that jives perfectly with the arrangement. I'd hesitate to call it minimalism, but every component feels very comfortable and there's nothing extraneous. The artist writes:

"This is the second time I am revisiting this song (last time was 10 years ago). It's one of my favorite video game songs. The mix starts with a piano riff taken from Lost Odyssey - Parting Forever. Since the source is very short, I merged it one of my own songs I wrote some 10 years ago. Hope you'll like it."

I certainly did; I'm a sweet tooth for Revenge of Shinobi, I'll admit, since I consider it one of the finest game soundtracks made, but this arrangement requires no Shinobi-bias to fully appreciate. Even though they're from totally different games, platforms, and composers, these two themes work amazingly well together, and it took a good ear just to realize that in the first place, and then some solid, foundational skills to turn that realization into a classy, textured, melancholy ReMix with distance & depth. Shariq writes:

"Aw yeah. So smoove. I love that big string sound. Despite being laid-back, it's got a serious 80s/90s sci-fi anime feel, like with some giant robots in space and a love story or something. You know what I'm saying. I like the quiet, gated synth in the background; it really adds a nice pulse to the track. Very full sound, good balance."

Definitely feeling the anime vibe, too, though perhaps more 70s/80s than 80s/90s. At any rate, great, unique ReMix from Dj Mystix; newcomersaredefinitelyrocking2011 so far, hope the trend continues!

Discussion

Very nice. You really nailed a feeling of sadness with this ReMix
and it's funny how well this can be put into the context of a
love story like Darkesword mentions. Great work with the acoustic
guitar and the piano. Chill and kinda distant, a nice way to
rearrangement some Shinobi stuff. Well done.

Such a beautiful track. This is an emotive and fantastic mix. The
soundscape is just gorgeous and the leads ooze with feeling and
expression. One of the first mixes I heard was of Mystix's Sunset
Riders remix. Such a characteristic style that is just so
absorbing and easy to listen to. I fully agree with DJP here,
regardless as to whether you're familiar with the Shinobi
soundtrack, this is really enjoyable.

Mr Mystix, I still have your original version of Eternal
Tears from all those years ago, hahaha!

I adore this track, and I've told you that before. It's so
awesome to see you up on OC ReMix dude... I couldn't be
happier. Congrats on debut mix man, and awesome, awesome
track... one of my favourites!!!

haha! I'm glad you liked the original.

Thanks man! Your highly motivational guidance all those years has
been one of the reasons I kept trying again and again.

NegimaSonicI was not disappointed, great job
man. Especially considering how hard you worked getting this on
site!

Thanks! But all those rejections were different mixes. I'm too
lazy to go back to a "no, resub" mix Although someday, I'll re-do them from scratch.

Mr Mystix, I still have your original version of Eternal Tears
from all those years ago, hahaha!

I adore this track, and I've told you that before. It's so
awesome to see you up on OC ReMix dude... I couldn't be happier.
Congrats on debut mix man, and awesome, awesome track... one of
my favourites!!!

Many thanks for the awesome comments! All you people at OCR
greatly helped me improving my skills in all these years. I'm
glad I managed to finally live up to OCR's standard and will do
my best to continue the trend.

You wanna know the creepy thing. I broke up with girl for 5
months and emotionally I'm still a mess, and your remix made me
remember a lot our good things spent together.

Wow! There can't be a better feeling than making other people
smile/happy (in your case, remember great stuff from the past).
I'm totally flattered! and also wish you get out of the "mess"
soon (I can totally understand this feeling btw ). Best of luck dude!

I litterally played and beat this game before i even came online
and noticed this remix so the game was fresh in my memory (having
only beaten it mere seconds before hand) and to be honest this
was a great remix to remind me of how if you fail you lose the
love of Joe's life Naoko (which i didn't i saved her) and i did
love this game even tho mines a late pal version where only
Spider-man remains from the original, so man ocremix was totally
reading my mind today, anyway this is amazing remix for a
newcomer truly a great start as a new remixer, can't wait to hear
more from you Dj Mystix. This will be going on my mp3, and hey
ocr if i play streets of rage tomorrow will you upload the 2 from
the Heroes v.s Villans album? ..

This song is really good! It has a very mystical feel to it (no
wonder, the remixer's name is Dj Mystix) and is very relaxing. I'm
really glad you revisited this song again because this is really
great!

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